1 Year

March 8, 2018. What a difference a year makes! Last night as we were driving home, I asked Henley if she knew what tomorrow was? She looked puzzled and I reminded her that it was 1 year since her brain surgery. She smiled as it registered with her just how much had changed in a year. 

As I have done many times, I asked Henley how she feels. She said “I feel good”.  I asked “are you hurting anywhere?” she said “No, not anymore.” As if Haven had somehow forgotten, she explained that before her surgery she was having “HUGE headaches almost everyday and it made her sad, but now she doesn’t have those. She only gets a little headache now and then.” Haven recalled the day of Henley’s surgery and told a story I had never heard until today. She said “The day of Henley’s surgery a bunch of people gathered on the playground and one of the teachers led us in a prayer for Henley while she was in surgery. Not long after we prayed someone got an email saying that it was over and she was okay and I finally felt relieved, I was so scared.” Listening to her recall that day and what it was like for her to be back home in Texas while we were thousands of miles away made me sad. I wished I could have been there for her and Zane too. Listening to Haven tell her sister about it took me back to a place I haven’t thought about in quite some time. While Henley was in surgery and Haven was on the playground praying, I was crying on the cold tile floor of the bathroom outside the surgery wing at NYP.

As my thoughts went back to that place and I listened to my kids conversation in the backseat, I sat in the front with tears of thankfulness running down my face. Thankfulness that we survived the last year. Thankfulness for Henley’s health and for mine too. I’m thankful beyond words for those of you who prayed for my baby that day. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Thank you for buying t-shirts and necklaces and cupcakes and things to keep Henley busy after surgery. Thank for you for carrying us through. You truly carried us through. I am still in awe of what the Lord has done and I can not tell you how much we appreciate each and every one of you. 

We have decided to take what we have been given and pair it with a deep seeded passion and turn Brave Campaign into an official 501c3 non-profit. The Lord blessed us above and beyond what we needed last year and we knew that money was not ours. We prayed and knew the Lord was calling us to pay it forward. To use this small little platform we have been given and use our story to help more families. We were able to take $10,000 that was LEFT OVER after paying for our expenses and make the first donation to Brave Campaign. Our mission will be to continue to raise money for other families in need. We have already scheduled some exciting stuff that we can't wait to share with you and we have already been able to help one family in need. We hope to do more and are praying that the Lord will show us where to go and connect us to people who will join in our mission. We want to bring hope to other families who feel absolutely hopeless and scared. We want to show the love of Christ through compassion, support and tangible resources that meet needs. We have no idea what we are doing, but are trusting that the Lord will guide our path here. 

HEALTH UPDATE:

For those who want an update on both of us, here it is. Henley is doing great! There have been some changes in her but all of them good. The majority of the time she is completely headache free! She is doing incredibly well in school this year and no longer comes home and crawls in bed to crash from exhaustion. She is stronger physically than she has ever been and rarely complains about pain in other areas of her body like she was. Her processing skills have made a dramatic improvement and her reading is off the charts. She is 8 years old and just finished the 3rd Harry Potter book and has finished two entire book series since Christmas. To say she likes to read is an understatement. Her writing is better and her speech and coordination seem to be improving as well. We could not be more thankful for how she is doing. 

As for me. My most recent MRI of my kidneys appeared to be stable. There is a small concern with some lesions on my liver but we are watching those closely. Although I am still having daily pain in my right side, things appear to be okay for now. My blood pressure is in check and we are continuing to monitor that situation closely. Henley and I will both be returning to NYC this summer for our year follow up appointments with both of our surgeons. We will both have MRI’s before we go back so I will update when we have more info. 

We love you all so much and feel so honored to have had you as a part of our story for so many years.